The Moons of Wild's Flame
by Wildfire96
Summary: Wildkit is born the sickly and weak son of Sorrelstar and Sparrowheart. He struggles all through his nursery days, but when the door to the forest is opened, A new cat is born. Follow Wildkit as he proves his strong heart is better then a strong body.
1. The First Breath

_**Chapter One**_

_**The first breath**_

"Is he alive?"

I hear my mother's mew above me. I have never seen her, but I know her voice instinctively.

"I can't tell," Says my father, and I find that I know him, too. Who are they talking about? My brother? Or could it be… are they talking about me?

My world is black and my eyes are firmly shut. I feel my brother moving next to me, I hear is soft breathing as he sleeps and smell my mother's sweet milk. My brother mewls in his sleep. They can't be talking about him. He feels huge and strong beside my tiny form.

_They're talking about me, _I realize. _They think I'm dead._ I struggle to answer, to say, "I'm alive! Don't worry, mom, Don't worry, dad!" but my voice won't work. I find that my body won't move, my mouth is sore and dry.

_They're talking about __**me.**_

My body feels weak and my bones brittle. I hear my parents' soft whispers above me. They're trying not to disturb my littermate and me. I open my soft ping mouth and at last I let out a strangled mew. It's better then nothing. Air rushes into my lungs. It shocks and startles me at first. Then I enjoy the sensation. _It's cold!_ The wondrously brisk air swirls in my lungs. As I exhale, my mother sighs with relief.

I struggle to her side and suckle with my littermate as my mother licks our heads. I hear her tail brush my brother's pelt. "I call this one Falconkit. See how his body is already muscular, like a falcon's?" She gently touches her tail to my ear. "I'll call this one Wildkit, in the hopes that he will grow to have a wild and strong heart."

_**Wildkit!**_

I'm overjoyed that my mother would call me such a strong sounding name. I mew happily as my father says, "Those are perfect."

Falconkit seems happy, too. He mews with me and my mother laughs. "They already seem stronger."

As I curl next to my mother, I feel a warm sensation in my stomach.

_I will get strong. You'll see. One day, I'll be Wildstar. I'll make you proud, mom, _I promise as I drift into a black cloud of sleep.


	2. Black Fur

_**Chapter Two**_

_Black fur_

I wake to find that Flaconkit is no longer beside me. I scent he is near by, but I still wonder why he is gone.

That is, until he jumps on me and squeaks, "Open your eyes, Wildkit! It's time to see the world!"

I mew crossly and roll over, covering my muzzle with a paw. My eyes remain firmly shut.

Falconkit jabbed my side with a sheathed paw. "Come _on!_" He persists. "Mom won't let me see the camp until you open your eyes too!"

_See the camp? Let's go! _I roll back over and open my eyes.

"_Wow,_" I murmur. The nursery is _huge! _The walls are made of a yellow-brown stone and the floor is covered with soft nests of moss and smooth bird feathers.

Falconkit grins at me. His silver tabby pelt is fluffy and soft, like the downy plumage of a young owl. _Do I look like him?_ I wonder. I stand up and glance down at my forepaws for the first time. The black fur on them is ruffled and short. I turn to look at my mother's sleeping form. Her tortoiseshell pelt is long and sleek. I bounce over to her and leap up onto her side. With some effort, I manage to stay up.

"We want to go exploring!" I squeak into her ear.

She raises her head and turns to look at me. "So you've opened your eyes, I see?" She says, smiling.

I nod. "Let's go see the camp!" I leap down off of my mother's side and scurry toward a gap in the stone wall of the nursery, Falconkit a few steps ahead. Just before he can make it to the door, a silver tabby she-cat pokes her head in. Her red eyes glow as she glances from my brother, to me and then rest on my mother.

"So they've opened their eyes then, Sorrelstar? I was just coming to see them," She says.

My mother nods and says, "This is Falconkit and Wildkit."

"They're beautiful," The tabby says as my mother nods a second time.

"Wildkit, Falconkit, this is Appleleaf. She's your older sister."

Appleleaf smiles warmly at my brother and me. "I'll keep an eye on them outside," She says.

Falconkit shoves past me and races between Appleleaf's legs. I dash after him, sneezing as the dust churned up by his paws blasts into my nose. I skid into Falconkit's back as I run out of the cave that is the nursery. Standing in a shaft of bright sunlight, we look up to see a hole in the high cave ceiling.

"Look who it is!" Chatters a fast voice. Falconkit and I turn to see two cats, a tom and a she-cat, not too much olden then Falconkit and I.

"Wildkit and Falconkit out of the nursery!" As I look around, I see tons of cats I hadn't noticed a second before. Some are sharing tongues, others are napping on the warm, sandy cave floor, and still others are having fresh-kill. The other two, the tom and the she-cat, step closer. "I'm Redkit, and this is Bluekit," says the she-cat. "Hi Redkit, hi Bluekit," I say, glancing from Redkit's red-tabby pelt to the blue-tabby fur of her brother.

"Thanks for noticing…." Bluekit mumbles in a slow, sing-song voice.

Falconkit and I exchange a confused glance. I shrugged at him.

"He's always like that," babbles Redkit. "Don't let it tie your tail in a knot." She smiled sweetly, her blue eyes twinkling.

Bluekit frowned, his red eyes rolling in at his nose. "I bet it would hurt if your tail was in a knot."

I tried not to laugh.

Suddenly, a huge with paw spun me around. I was looking up into the face of the fluffiest cat I had ever seen.


	3. Meeting the Family

_**Chapter Three**_

_Meeting the Family_

"Hi, Shadowtail…" Bluekit mumbles. I stare at the big white tom, my eyes wide. _Cats can be this big?_ I wonder.

"Hey, little brothers!" He says cheerfully. Falconkit and I stare, shocked into silence.

"L-little brothers?" Falconkit finally says, his eyes wide. Shadowtail nods.

"Appleleaf is my littermate. Blossomtail, too," He flicked his fluffy, dark gray tail towards a white she-cat with a ginger tail. Bluekit and Redkit wandered away, Redkit chattering incessantly.

"Is she always like that?" I ask Shadowtail.

"Pretty much."

"Hm." Falconkit padded away, wanting to see the rest of the camp, I guess. I trotted after him.

"Hey!" Oh, no, not again. I turn around, but this time, it's not Redkit and Bluekit, its two she-cats with glossy black and white pelts.

"Hey!" The first one repeats. "I'm Mintkit, this is Fallowkit."

"Hi! I'm Falconkit, and this is my brother, Wildkit."

"We know who you are," Fallowkit says, "We're kin!"

"Really?" I ask, astonished.

"Shadowtail is our father," They say in unison. They look at each other and laugh.

Mintkit blinks and smiles. "You know," She says, "Sorrelstar is the leader of LightningClan."

"Of course we know!" Flaconkit replies hotly. "We're not mouse-brains!"

Fallowkit shrugs, then she and Minkit bounced away laughing.

"She-cats!" Says Falconkit, rolling his eyes. I cuff him over the ear and we laughed.

Next thing we know, there's a big black tom in front of us. His fur is sleek and his muscles ripple under his short pelt. We both had to step back to see his face. He looks strong and firm, but at the same time, gentle with a big heart. His big azure eyes glisten as he looks down on us.

"Wildkit and Falconkit," He says, smiling. "Does Sorrelstar know you're out here?"

"Of course she knows!" Falconkit says, his eyes flashing defiantly. "Why is everyone treating us like mouse-brained kits?"

"Because we are kits."

"But we're not mouse-brains!"

"True."

The tom with the short black pelt laughs. "I'm Sparrowheart," He says.

"Sparrowheart!" Sorrelstar cries behind us. She bounds over, her long tortoiseshell pelt glistening in the dim sunlight filtering through a small gap in the high cave ceiling. She leans against him and purrs.

Suddenly it hits me like a ton of fresh-kill. "You're our father!" I say happily.

"Yes," He says, grinning. "You look just like me when I was young."

"Will you show us around the camp now?" I ask pleadingly.

"Please?" Falconkit adds.

"Fine," Sparrowheart trots over to a golden spotted tom. "This is Jackalclaw," he says, indicating the tom. "He's my brother."

"So we're kin?" Falconkit asks.

"We'll duh, mouse-brain!" I say laughing and giving him a little push with my shoulder. He looks hurt now, and I feel really bad. "I'm sorry…"

"It's okay," He says with a wide grin.

Sparrowheart and Jackalclaw spend the rest of the day introducing us to the clan.

"There's so many!" Falconkit murmurs as we curl up in our nest, utterly exhausted.

I didn't reply as a wave of blackness crashes over me, and I drift into deep sleep.


	4. One Step Closer

_**Chapter Four**_

_One Step Closer_

The next few moons pass in a blur to me. I feel stronger everyday, and there is no longer any doubt as to whether I am alive. I'm not quite as big as Falconkit, but I'm closer then I was when we were little.

I'm not the only one who's been changing. Fallowkit, Mintkit, Redkit and Bluekit are all apprentices now. Royalpelt and Flashfire returned to being warriors. Sorrelstar lost a life to sickness. And soon, Falconkit and I will be apprentices ourselves.

I crack open a misty blue eye as sunlight filters through the roof of the nursery,

throwing shadows on the sleeping cats there. I glanced around and saw Falconkit next to me. Sorrelstar wasn't in the den, though she often wasn't as my brother and I neared our sixth moon.

I stand and stretch, padding out into the camp, where the sunlight dapples the sandy floor and the roar of the waterfall fills my ears.

Sorrelstar was talking with Jackalclaw, Sparrowheart and Honeypatch. She glances over at me, and then beckons me with her tail. I trot over.

"What is it, Sorrelstar?" I inquire.

"Go and wake your brother. It's time you two were apprentices."

"Okay," I reply. I turn and dash back to the nursery.

"Make sure you wash your pelts first!" Sorrelstar calls after me.

I bound into the nursery and leap onto Falconkit. He grumbles a complaint.

"Get up!" I cry. "It's time for our apprentice ceremony!"

Instantly, he's bolt upright and washing his pelt. I hear Sorrelstar's gathering call from the camp.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the StoneLedge for a clan meeting!" She pauses for a moment before continuing, "It is time for Wildkit and Falconkit to join LightningClan as apprentices."

Falconkit and I pad out of the nursery, side by side. Sorrelstar leaps down off the StoneLedge. She stands in front of us, and looks first a Falconkit. "From this moment, until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice shall be known as Falconpaw. Honeypatch, you will be mentor to this apprentice. You are a strong and trusted warrior, and an amazing hunter. I hope you will pass this knowledge to your new apprentice."

Honeypatch pads forward and touches noses with Falconpaw.

Next, Sorrelstar turns to me.

_This is it!_

"From this moment, until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice shall be known as Wildpaw. Jackalclaw, you will be mentor to this apprentice. You are a kind and powerful warrior, and I hope you will pass on all of your skills to your new apprentice."

I lean forward and touch noses with Jackalclaw.

I look at Falconpaw and grin. He looks as happy as I've ever seen him. The clan cheers our new names. "Wildpaw! Falconpaw! Wildpaw! Falconpaw!"

_ This is it!_ _I'm one step closer to being Wildstar!_

"Wildpaw! Falconpaw! Wildpaw! Falconpaw!"


	5. JaggedClan

_**Chapter Five**_

_JaggedClan_

I've been an apprentice for quite a few moons now. I train every day with Jackalclaw, battle practice, hunting lessons, and patrols take up almost all of my time. But I still have time to spend with Falconpaw.

I feel especially good today. Yesterday I learned new battle moves, and I'm really good at them.

I lay in the sunlight, sharing a shrew with Redpaw, Falconkit and Fallowpaw are sharing a black bird a few tail lengths away.

A patrol abruptly shattered the peace in the camp, barreling in through the entrance, yowling and screeching.

Everycat was on their feet.

"What's going on?"

"Where's Sorrelstar?"

"What's happening?"

"I can't see!"

Sparrowheart, at the head of the patrol, races to Sorrelstar's den. A moment later, they burst from the little sandstone cave.

"JaggedClan are invading!" Sorrelstar yowls.

The clan erupts into yowling, everycat is frightened.

Sorrelstar begins giving orders. "Jackalclaw! You lead the attack patrol! Dragonblaze! You lead the back up patrol!"

Jackalclaw leaps up. "Honeypatch, Falconpaw, Wildpaw, Shadowtail, Appleleaf Redpaw, Mintpaw, Sparrowheart, Foxslash and Royalpelt! You come with me!"

Dragonblaze was issuing orders behind me. "Echostream, Phoenixflower, Fadingecho, Fallingshadow, Bluepaw, Frostfoot, Stoneheart, Mistflight and Fallowpaw! You're on the back up patrol!"

Sorrelstar bounds after Jackalclaw and the rest of his patrol. "Sparrowfeather, Robinflight and Thrushfeather! Go and warn FireClan, NightClan and RoseClan! Every other cat is to stay her and protect the camp if they get this far!" She yowls. "Have no fear!"

It's not long before we can smell the rouge cats of JaggedClan. We weave through the forest and come upon the rouge warriors. "Attack!" Comes the Cry of Jackalclaw, only to be matched by the yowl of Owlstar, the JaggedClan leader. "Leave no cat un-scared!"

The clearing explodes into battle, and the air is rent with the screams of fighting warriors.

I leap at a small tom and strike the back of his hind legs with my paw, hitting the tendon and making him collapse. I jump on top of him and grab his scruff in my teeth, and he scrabbles beneath me.

I let him go and he shoots into the bushes toward Twoleg-Place.

I confront cat after cat and they all flee for the bushes. JaggedClan is being beaten back!

Suddenly I hear a sickening _smack_. I turn to see Sorrelstar slumped against a tree, a big tabby tom standing over her. Sparrowheart leaps on top of him and rolls him away, but Sorrelstar isn't moving. She's slumped against the tree, lifelessly.

"She's loosing a life," Says a voice behind me. It's Shadowtail. "She'll be okay."

I realize abruptly that there are cats streaming past me.

_Owlstar ordered a retreat! _I think.

Sorrelstar is stirring now, and my clanmates are crying out in triumph!

"Go back to your Rat hole!"

"That's right, you better run!"

"This is our forest!"

"There will always be _four_ clans in this forest!"

My clanmates regroup and we begin the trek back to camp. My first battle left me with only a nick in my ear, but I'm proud of it. It's a fitting battle scar.

Falconpaw is proud of the cut across his nose, and we're all proud of the way we fought. Sorrelstar says we should be.

I know as I settle down in my nest that night that this wont be the last time I face JaggedClan, but next time, I'll be ready, and I'll be stronger then ever.


	6. Goodbye

_**Chapter Six**_

_Goodbye_

_Today's the day! _ I think as I trot back in after a particularly long patrol. _ Today Falconpaw and I get to join Redrise and Blueset in the warriors' den! _

I can already hear Sorrelstar summoning the clan.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the StoneLedge for a Clan meeting!" Pause. "It is time we welcomed Falconpaw and Wildpaw to the Warriors' Den."

Falconpaw and I pad into the camp, ready to receive our warrior names. A lot has changed sense we were kits in the nursery. I'm now one of the strongest fighters in the clan, and my black pelt is sleek over my hard muscles. Falconpaw is one of the best hunters I've ever heard of. His pelt is no longer ruffled and fluffy, but instead it's neat and smooth.

Sorrelstar and Sparrowheart are beaming with pride as the last of their kits pad into the clearing to join the ranks of LightningClan.

Falconpaw is first to receive his name. "I, Sorrelstar, leader of LightningClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Falconpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?

"I do."

"Then, by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Falconpaw, from this moment you will be known as Falconflight. StarClan honors your bravery and strength, and we welcome you as a full member of LightningClan." Sorrelstar rests her chin on hid head as she has done to every warrior before him. Falconflight licks her shoulder in return.

Finely, Sorrelstar turned to me.

"I, Sorrelstar, leader of LightningClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Wildpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do." I hold my head high and answer her proudly.

"Then, by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Wildpaw, from this moment you will be known as Wildfire. StarClan honors your skill and compassion, and we welcome you as a full member of LightningClan." She rests her chin on the top of my head now, and I respond by licking her shoulder, as is customary in the clans.

_Wildfire!_ I'm thrilled. I remember when I was a kit and I thought my mother had given me a strong-sounding name. Now I feel even stronger and I'm happier then ever to know that my mother picked my warrior name.

The clan welcomes us as they cheer our warrior names.

"Falconflight! Wildfire! Falconflight! Wildfire!"

I glance at Redrise. She's cheering my name louder then any other cat in the clan. I beam at her.

Next I look at Falconflight. He's smiling back at me.

_We did it._ I know we're both thinking it. _We're warriors!_

"Tonight you will hold the costmary silent vigil," Sorrelstar says as the cheering dies down. "We all know we're safe with you two guarding the camp."

Redrise is padding over now. "Congratulations, Falconflight!" She says. She still has as much energy as when we were kits. She turns to me and licks my cheek. "Congratulations," She murmurs. "Welcome to the warriors den."

There are a million things I feel I could say to her right now from a simple 'thanks,' to 'I love you, Redrise,' but I can say none of it.

She smiles knowingly and winks at me. "I love you, Wildfire."

As Redrise turns away and pads into the warriors den, Falconflight nudges my shoulder. He turns and pads over to the center of camp, and lies down. I walk over and join him. We lean against each other as we watch the camp entrance.

I'm almost asleep, and I with a quick glance I see that it's moonhigh through a gap in the ceiling, when we hear a sound outside of camp. Next, we see shadows creeping in and I smell rouges.

_JaggedClan!_

"JaggedClan are invading!" I yowl as loudly as I can.

The camp bursts to life and my clamates pour from their dens. Real warriors engage fake ones in battle.

I use all my fighting skills as I fight the JaggedClan rouges. I smash into a red-tabby she-cat. She's nothing like Redrise. Her pelt is long and matted, and her eyes are wild and desperate. I dive under her legs, unbalancing her, and I leap away before she can fall on me. I fasten my teeth into he scruff, and pull back so her forepaws are reeling in mid air. I let go and she races away. I look up and see that everycat is moving a kind of slow motion. Falconflight is struggling with a dark tabby tom, Redrise is crashing into a gray she-cat and Blueset is sending a tortoiseshell she-cat racing into the forest.

I notice my father out of the corner of my eye. He's facing the entrance as his opponent races back to Twoleg-Place. A huge tabby tom is sneaking toward him.

_Owlstar!_

"Sparrowheart!" I yowl, trying to get him to turn.

Owlstar breaks into a run, bounding toward my father with deadly intent.

"Sparrowheart!" But this time, it's not me yowling, it's Sorrelstar.

She leaps forward just in time and smashes into Owlstar, clawing at each other. He leaps away, and rears onto his hind paws. Sorrelstar rises to meet his challenge. They crash into each other, and all the other battles seem to freeze.

Their claws meet each other's throat, and my heart plummets.

"No!" I cry, my voice sound hoarse, as if I haven't spoken in moons.

Sorrelstar and Owlstar crash onto the ground, and Owlstar convulses, seeming to die more then once.

_He's loosing the lives of a leader, _I realize, _I forgot he got nine lives from the Dark Forest._

Many moons ago, Owlstar changed his name from Owlfang. He used to me my mother's mate, before he betrayed her for power among rogues. StarClan doesn't recognize JaggedClan as an actual clan because they don't follow the warrior code, so they wouldn't give him nine lives, like they do to the leaders of the forest clans.

Sorrelstar is on her last life.

Suddenly, Owlstar is unnaturally still.

_He's dead. He lost all of his lives, just like that._

Sorrelstar's sides are heaving, and blood is flowing from her neck. I race over, and all of her kits are there with Sparrowheart, though he only fathered Falconflight and me. Owlstar's kits from before he turned evil, Phoenixflower and Dragonblaze, Graystar's kits from when Sorrelstar broke the code and fell in love with the RoseClan leader, Shadowtail, Appleleaf and Blossomtail, and Sparrowheart's kits, Falconflight and me.

Sorrelstar looks up and smiles. She looks at all of us in turn. "I'm proud of you," she says, "All of you."

"Somebody get Swiftpoppy!" Sparrowheart cries.

"No," Sorrelstar says. "Have her treat the cats that are injured worst."

"But that's you!"

"The ones that aren't going to join StarClan."

"No!" I say, I'm sobbing. "This can't be the end! You can't leave us!"

I can hear other cats crying out in despair as they watched their leader for so many moons dying.

"It's okay," She says, "I'm with my mother now. It'll be okay. Jackalclaw will be a great leader, as was he a great deputy."

"No…." I shake my head. "Don't leave us…"

"Goodbye," She says, and she smiles, and closes her eyes.

Her sides fall still for the last time.


	7. Life Goes On

_**Chapter Seven**_

_Life Goes On_

Jackalstar is just returning from the MoonLake, where he received his nine lives from StarClan. He leaps onto the StoneLedge and summons us. Time to pick a new deputy.

I hope he will choose me, but at the same time I know he will not, as I haven't mentored an apprentice yet.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the StoneLedge for a Clan meeting!"

We stood under him and he looked down on us with sorrow and strength in his eyes.

"Sorrelstar spoke to me in my dreams," He said, "And told me the intentions of my clanmates, and who wishes to guide and support me as leader."

We were silent.

"I say these words before the body of Sorrelstar, so that her spirit may hear and approve my choice. Wildfire will be the new deputy of LightningClan."

_Me? But I haven't mentored an apprentice yet!_

I can hear my thought echoed in the cries of my clanmates.

"He can't!"

"Are you crazy?"

"Do you want StarClan to punish us?"

"_Silence!_" Jackalstar yowls. "He will have an apprentice as soon as the next kits are old enough. Dose anyone doubt his ability to help me lead?"

"I do!" Snarls a voce my clanmates part and I see Wolftail, lashing his tail back and forth.

"Do you rise to prove him wrong?"

"I do."

He leaps at me, and I lunge back.

I use all of my best fighting moves. I swipe the tendon on his hind legs and he collapses. Snarling, I roll him over and pummel his soft belly with my rear paws. Then I realize _his claws are not sheathed._

My claws slide out and a slash his muzzle. We tumble together for a moment, then I lash out with a paw, a hefty blow that sends him sprawling on the ground.

"Enough!" Yowls Jackalstar. "Wildfire has proven he is the right choice for LightningClan's new deputy."

Wolftail said nothing.

"Wildfire will be first to have an apprentice as soon as one of the kits is old enough."

"Wildfire! Wildfire! Wildfire!" My clanmates cheer.

Redrise and Falconflight bound over to me.

"Congratulations!" Falconflight says.

"Thanks!" I purr.

"Promise we still get to patrol together?"

"Of course!"

"Good."

"Any time you want, just tell me."

"Okay," Falconflight nods. He steps forward and whispers, "I think Redrise wants to talk to you alone."

"Thanks."

He bounds away and Redrise purrs, "Congratulations!"

"Thanks," I say again.

She opens her mouth to speak, but I hold up my tail to stop her.

"I love you too, Redrise."


End file.
